


The Proposal

by boom_butterfly_effect



Series: A Very Chrashley Life [1]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, One Shot, The beginning of a series, also a short introduction to ashleys sister, and chris' mom, but an overarching plot for them, only one shots, super cute if you ask me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24781792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boom_butterfly_effect/pseuds/boom_butterfly_effect
Summary: Part 1 of Chris and Ashley's life together. In this one, they get engaged! And how everyone else in the Blackwood gang finds out about it.
Relationships: Ashley Brown/Chris Hartley, Emily Davis/Matt Taylor (Until Dawn), Mike Munroe/Jessica Riley
Series: A Very Chrashley Life [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792408
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	The Proposal

Ashley was sound asleep. She was dreaming of a future of her and Chris buying a house together. She knew while awake that it was a distant dream, after all they weren’t even married. She had this fear that one day Chris would wake up and not love her anymore. They had been through so much together, yet she always had that fear in the back of her mind.

In her dream, they bought a gorgeous home with a bit of land somewhere. Her dream self had become a best-selling author, instead of the substitute teacher she was now. Inside their house was decorated impeccably and there was the sound of little footsteps on the hardwood.

Chris and Ashley had been living in a one bedroom apartment in Redlands, California for about a year now. They had wanted to move far enough away from their parents that they wouldn’t pop in unexpectedly, plus Chris had gotten an unpaid internship at Esri while he worked at the local Albertsons.

Suddenly, Ashley woke up and felt, presumably Chris, grabbing her hand. She slightly opened her eyes and looked over at him, “What are you doing, babe?”

She noticed a glint as he slid something on her finger. She took her right hand, the hand he wasn’t holding, and wiped the sleep from her eyes. When she opened them wider, she noticed he had not only slid a ring on her finger, but it was an engagement ring.

“Chris. You’re kidding.”

“Ashley-”

“CHRIS. IS THIS SERIOUSLY HAPPENING RI-”

“I’m trying to be romantic and you’re ruining it, babe.”

Ashley bit her lip, nodding for him to continue.

“Ashley Elizabeth Brown, I have loved you for, pshh, since the day I met you? It just took a while to tell you. And now that I have I never want to stop saying it. I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

Her eyes had already begun to brim with tears as she looked over at him and nodded, “Of course I will!”

Ashley leaned over, caressing Chris’ cheek as she gave him a simple yet passionate kiss on the lips. Ashley giggled as Chris went to grab his phone, presumably to call his mom. 

Ashley grabbed his hand, “Wait.”

As much as she wanted to call everyone she knew, she also wanted to spend a moment where it was just her and Chris soaking in the news.

She snuggled into his chest, her left hand with its new jewelry glinting on his chest.

“How long do you think it would take for people to notice if we didn’t tell them?” She joked.

“I think Josh probably already knows and I didn’t even tell him. He has a sixth sense for us. It’s almost scary.”

“I do want to tell Nat,” she sighed, “and your mom! I’m sure she would start bragging to everyone at the nurses station. As for everyone else, I kinda wanna see if any of them notice.”

Chris nodded, “Sounds like a plan. Who first?”

“Lets call your mom.”

Chris leaned over and grabbed his phone from where it was charging. He FaceTimed his mom, Diana, hoping she would answer while she was at work.

As her face appeared on the screen, she looked worried, “Chris, honey. Are you ok?”

“Yeah mom, just sitting here with Ash.”

“Oh, hi Ashley! How are you doing sweetheart?”

Ashley wiped off some of the tears on her face and there was a gasp from the other end of the line.

“Christopher. Is that an _engagement ring_?!”

“Yes it is! He literally just proposed. We wanted you to be the first to know.”

Diana got quiet and then began to wipe off her face, “You guys have me crying at work. I had no idea you were even thinking of that Chris. We need to have dinner soon so I can see it in person.”

“We can plan something sometime this weekend, just let us know when you're off," Chris explained.

"I'm so happy I'm finally gonna have a daughter! I love you guys so much, but if I get caught on a call, I could get in big trouble. I'll text you though," Diana blew a kiss and hung up.

Ashley sighed. Diana was the mother she never had, and it made her happy to know that now she had her surrogate mother as a soon to be mother-in-law! Now it was time to tell Nat. She grabbed her phone and dialed her sister’s number. She put it on speaker phone.

“Hey Ash, what’s up?”

“You’re _never_ gonna guess what just happened,” Ashley said, her face lit up with a smile.

“At 8:30 in the morning when I expected you to be asleep, I have no idea.”

“Chris p-”

“He _didn’t_.”

“HE DID!” she squealed.

“Holy shit Ash! Congrats! I wouldn’t have picked a better guy than Chris.”

“Thanks Nat,” Chris piped in.

Natasha laughed, “Text me with all the details. I'll be out of town for the next few weeks meeting with potential suppliers, but when I get back, I expect to be involved in _all_ wedding planning events."

"No worries, I wouldn't even know where to start planning without you, Nat."

"Shit, I'm getting another call but congratulations. Love you. See you soon.”

After they hung up with her, they just sat there while Ashley admired the ring. He had done a job picking it out. She hadn’t really told him what she liked. 

“How did you know what to get?”

“I have my ways,” Chris smirked, “And maybe your Pinterest board was involved.”

Ashley rolled her eyes, “Of course.”

Chris’ phone began to buzz with a call from none other than Josh. 

Ashley laughed, “He really does.”

“So, Chris. Pop the ole question? Begin the journey to the ball and chain?”

“How the hell do you know about all this all the time?”

“Oh naive Chris. I’ve known you since elementary school. I know every one of your logins and I could see that you bought the ring yesterday.”

“What made you think it would today? Maybe I had a big plan to make it romantic.”

Josh clicked his teeth, “I _also_ know that you probably would be so excited and nervous that if you didn’t do it right away then you would accidentally blurt it out.”

Ashley snickered at that. Josh was very right. Chris had a habit of ruining surprises even when it wasn’t high stakes like being _engaged_ . They were _engaged!_ It felt so surreal.

That night they had planned a game night with the Blackwood gang. As soon as Josh promised not to let everyone else know, Ashley got out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom.

She yelled out to Chris after looking in the mirror, “You could’ve waited until I looked presentable.”

“I think you look beautiful all the time, you know that,” he yelled back.

Ashley sighed. She slid the ring off her finger and set it on the counter before she started the water for her shower. She had just been given that and she didn’t want to ruin it within an hour of wearing it. As soon as she was clean, she put it back on her finger and couldn’t help but smile ear to ear. She was getting married to the love of her life.

As the day went on, she caught herself looking at it. It didn’t feel real and she felt like she needed to pinch herself because she was still asleep. Eventually it was time for the game night.

The first one to show up was Sam. When she knocked on the door, Chris went to get it.

“Good afternoon, welcome to the Hartley/Brown ultimate game night.”

Sam smiled, “Hello, Chris. I brought a bottle of wine that I felt best suited the dinner tonight.”

Ashley greeted Sam from the kitchen where she was preparing the salad part of the meal while the chicken that was going on top of it was still baking.

Sam walked into the kitchen, setting the bottle down, “I know you don’t drink, but you _know_ how Emily gets bitchy when she doesn’t have a glass with dinner.”

“Maybe if we’re lucky, she’ll drink a few glasses and then we’ll have _tipsy_ Em,” Chris laughed thinking about how much more competitive Emily would be if she was slightly inebriated.

When Ashley looked over at Sam, she couldn’t help but notice that Sam was glancing toward her hand, but she didn’t say anything. Perhaps it would be Sam who broke the news to everyone, but only time would tell. After all, she was the only one there so far.

Emily and Matt came together, which means they were probably on-again. They had been going through phases of being together, snuggling on couches at get-togethers, or cold stares from opposite ends of the room, with a tension that ended in passive-aggressive comments thrown around the room. Ashley breathed a sigh of relief that it was the former.

“Hey, Ash!” Matt said as he entered the small apartment, wrapping Ashley up in a big hug, lifting her off the ground.

Ashley giggled as he picked her up. This was a sign of affection they had come up with back in high school, before the large group of friends was formed. Yet, every time he lifted her small body off the ground, she was pleasantly surprised.

Emily simply walked past them, heading into the kitchen and setting her own bottle of wine beside the one Sam had brought.

“Sam, you have excellent taste,” Emily picked up Sam’s bottle, admiring the label.

“You can thank the simple google of what wine goes with salad.”

Emily and Sam took a seat in the living room as Matt put Ashley down. His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the sparkle on her hand. She could tell he wanted to ask about it, but she gave him a look to tell him to wait. He nodded, motioning that his lips were sealed. The oven beeped, alerting her to take out the chicken so she stepped away from the door and pulled out the pans. 

As she was cutting each chicken breast into smaller chunks to top the salad, there was another knock on the door. Chris answered it and Mike stood on the other side, a six pack in his hand. 

“Chris, my man. How’s the internship going?” 

“As good as it can be when I’m not getting paid,” Chris shrugged.

“Shit, yeah. How _are_ you making money?”

“Still slaving away at the Albertsons. _Living the dream_.”

Mike laughed, “As long as you have a good attitude about it.”

Mike went and sat the beer beside the bottles of wine and joined the girls sitting in the living room.

Chris joined Ash in the kitchen, whispering, “Do you think they noticed?”

“Sam and Matt have eyed it, but they didn’t say anything.”

Chris nodded, “Can I help you with the food?”

“Just grab the glasses and bowls out of the cabinets. Set them on the table so people can serve themselves.”

Chris walked to the other side of her and opened up the cupboard with the glasses in them.

“Boozers and losers, come get your drinks,” he said as he walked over and set them on the table beside the bottles.

Everyone got up, and made their way into the kitchen, continuing the conversations they had been having in the kitchen.

“All I’m saying is if you don’t want to get cancelled, don’t be a sleeze,” Sam said, rolling her eyes.

“Apparently that’s asking a lot for the big names in Hollywood,” Mike chimed in.

Chris sat the bowls down and Ashley stepped away from the food, allowing them to assemble their own salad. 

There was a knock on the door and Ashley yelled, “Come in!”

Jessica came in and waved at everyone.

“Jess, nice to see you decided to join us,” Mike said, grinning her direction.

Mike and Jess broke up for a while and did their own thing for a year. Jessica did cosmetology school and Mike tried to date this really sweet girl named Sarah, but they broke up and when Jess finished school, they got back together and were closer than ever. Guess distance does indeed make the heart grow fonder.

Everyone gathered their food and beverages and took a seat in the living room. For having such a small apartment, Ashley and Chris had done their best to accommodate when they had everyone over. On top of their sectional couch and nicer chair, they had gotten a few foldable chairs and opted to take those as to not inconvenience their guests.

As Sam took the first bite, she nodded, “I will never understand how you make such good salads. What’s your secret?”

“I make my dressing from scratch,” Ashley smiled.

Matt looked shocked, “Really? That’s awesome. Tastes great.”

“I’m glad you guys-”

Josh interrupts her sentence by barging through the door, “Party people!”

Chris didn’t even flinch, “Josh, you’re earlier than I expected!”

“Ha ha ha,” Josh mockingly laughed, “Has anyone noticed the-”

Ashley cleared her throat, trying to get him to get the hint, blushing.

Sam nodded, “I knew it.”

“What?” Mike said, oblivious.

Matt answered, “They’re engaged.”

“Wait,” Emily turned her attention from Matt to Ashley, “Are you really?”

“Guilty as charged.”

Ashley held out her hand to show off the twinkling diamond on her hand.

"It's gorgeous, Ash. Not really _my style,_ but still a gorgeous diamond," Jessica admired. It was only a matter of time before Jess and Mike followed suit in getting engaged.

"How'd you do it?" Josh asked, cracking open one of the beers Mike brought.

"Well she was asleep," Chris started, "and I had seen it in some romance movie that the guy just slips the ring onto the girl's finger so they immediately see it when they wake up. Well she woke up in the middle of me trying to put it on, so that didn't go as smooth as the movie-"

"-But it was just as romantic," Ashley smiled.

Sam awed, "Well I know I speak for all of us that I'm happy for you, and I can't believe you guys beat the rest of us for getting married."

Josh laughed, "You could always marry me, Sam"

"Thanks, but no thanks. You're like my brother."

"Your loss," Josh shrugged as the rest of them continued eating.

Now that the news was out in the open, it felt like a weight came off of Ashley's shoulder. As they were putting the dishes up, Emily pulled Ashley aside.

“I know I’ve been kinda distant recently,” Emily began, “But I got hired onto this wedding planning company. I’m not saying you need to hire me or anything, but I would really like to help you and Chris out. Free of charge. Since I have all the connections.”

Ashley smiled, shocked, “You’re kidding. You would really do that for me?”

“It’s the least I can do. You could’ve easily hated me when I was a bitch to you. Or when I broke up with Matt over and over…”

“Em,” Ashley gave Emily a hug. 

Matt walked over to the two of them embracing, “My girlfriend and my best friend hugging. Everything is right in the world.”

Ashley laughed, “Your girlfriend just offered to help me and Chris plan our wedding.”

“Wait, really Em?” Matt seemed shocked at Emily’s generosity.

Emily rolled her eyes at him, “You have _so_ much faith in me being a good person, don’t you.”

“That’s not what I was saying,” Matt said defensively.

As the two of them bickered, Ashley slowly backed away to tell Chris the good news.

“There’s my lovely fiancee,” Chris said, putting his arm around Ashley’s shoulders.

Ashley hugged Chris before looking up at him, “Emily offered to help us plan the wedding.”

“Really? That’s great!” Chris smiled before looking over at Em.

Slowly, people left, leaving Chris and Ashley alone once again.

“This has been such a great day, Chris. Honestly. It still feels like I’m dreaming.”

Chris grabbed her in a hug from behind, “Well you aren’t. You and I are gonna get married someday. Knowing Em, she’ll wanna get everything perfect since she doesn’t have wedding bells in sight for herself.”

“Maybe that's for the best,” Ashley sighed, “them not getting married, ya know?”

Chris shrugged and yawned, “It’s none of our business. No matter how much we care about them, it’s not up to us.”

Ashley yawned as well, “I guess you’ve got a point.”

“Let’s just focus on two people who are going to get married, and live happily ever after.”

“Jess and Mike?” Ashley joked, and Chris did not look amused, “I know. You and me. We’ve got time to think about you and me. Right now? I’m going to sleep. So you can come with me and we can cuddle o-”

“You know I can’t pass up on cuddling.”

Ashley and Chris fell asleep in Chris’ arms, happy because finally her dreams were becoming reality.

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for the rest of this story :)


End file.
